Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Knit and bake and knit and bake

So I'm still doing the edge for Mountain Pines. I have rounded the corner and I'm working on the second side. I just pinned it out a little to see what it looks like with the edge. I'm also assisting my sister in baking more holiday cookies and quick breads. See "Ginger Cookies" from the "Stars Dessert Cookbook". These are the only ginger cookies I like to eat and they are very addicting! Very buttery, crunchy and chewy. We also baked "Joan's Pumpkin Loaf" from "Maida Heatter's New Book Of Great Desserts". Moist with raisins or dates (Your choice, we use raisins) as well as either walnuts or pecans (We used pecans this year). It only tastes better the longer it sits there so it"s a great make ahead treat. We gave cookies to our co-workers, some of our friends and to our Veterinarian's office. Between baking and knitting, there is also reading my backlog of paperback's. I love paranormal romances and Sci Fi. What can I say. Reality is very harsh sometimes. I appreciate being somewhere else mentally from time to time. Right now I'm reading "Sunshine" by Robin McKinley and it is extraordinarily engaging. The female lead is reluctantly heroic, living in a world where vampires and other creatures are now commonly acknowledged. Soon vampires will outnumber humans in numbers and the balance of power may be shifting. Sunshine can work magic, though she has not been trained in magic due to her mothers divorce from her magically talented father. She is abducted by a gang of vampires, ostensibly to break the will of a vampire prisoner who has chosen not to kill or torture humans while taking the blood he needs. He's old and very powerful, hence his rivals desire to break him. They tether Sunshine and the vampire, Constantine with leg chains and leave them together, hoping he will lose control. Instead, they show one another compassion and form an alliance to escape with Sunshine using powers she never tried to tap before. There is much more to the book and it's an enjoyable read as Sunshine and Constantine find that they now have a bond that goes beyond their initial crisis as they battle the evil vampire who would have them both dead. It's such a good book that I wish there were more than just the one, but Robin McKinley does not really write series, she writes stand-alone novels. I am, however, grateful for the one book. It's a keeper! Well, back to the cookies! Have a nice evening and hope you are enjoying the holiday season!